1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for packaging cans or tubes, wherein cans or tubes arriving from a conveying station are placed into a packaging fixture, are moved in the packaging fixture to a packaging station and are together removed from the packaging fixture in the form of a dense package with a common packaging, after which they pass on to the next following processing station.
2. Description of Prior Art
Installations for producing tubes or cans are extremely expensive and for their amortization must be operated as much as possible at full capacity and without expensive outage and refitting times. A key spot in the course of production up to the product which is ready for shipment is the packaging of the individual cans or tubes. The two customary types of packaging for such empty containers are packaging in boxes and encasing in hoops. Both methods have different advantages and disadvantages. Encasing in hoops is economical because of the low price and the low volume and weight, and is of great ecological interest. Since the thin encasing hoops are continuously fed from delivery rolls and are cut to the correct size at the place of hooping, hooping units can be integrated in the packaging machines in a space-efficient manner. On the other hand, packaging in boxes protects the cans and tubes against damage and soiling, which can be important, for example in the pharmaceutical and foodstuff area.
Up to now only packaging machines were available which could be used either for encasing the cans or tubes in hoops or for packaging the cans or tubes in boxes. Changing from the one type of packaging to the other requires not only two conventional machines, but also results in a considerable logistic effort for refitting the packaging installation in the packaging area, or for transporting the cans or tubes to the respective packaging unit.
In conventional installations for packaging cans and tubes in boxes, delivery of the empty boxes results in great spatial and mechanical demands on the packaging device, since the boxes are often transported horizontally and must be tilted into a vertical position for filling, or the boxes are loaded step-by-step and must be movable in order to be positioned exactly in different positions. In this case the delivery of the boxes generally takes place by means of conveyor belts.